Tools for auditing and securing cloud systems

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Tools like OpenSCAP and Aqueduct can make life much easier when implementing cloud security standards.

One thing I love about cloud computing is being able to deploy a dozen or more systems with the click of a button. Testing and deploying larger scale systems has never been so easy. Additionally, I don’t have to deal with hardware failures. Rather than driving out to the location at 2am to fix a dead server, I simply launch a new instance, or stop and start an instance, which on many cloud providers results in the use of a new physical server. Two clicks and a two-minute wait versus driving downtown at 2am is not a hard choice to make (especially in a Canadian winter). Also, I can turn off and stop paying for unneeded servers, which my accountant approves of.